Extracts obtainable from plants of Hoodia genus (formerly the Hoodia and Trichocaulon genera) have been shown to have an appetite suppressant activity and are potentially useful in weight management products. U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,657 discloses that these plants contain steroidal glycosides and also discloses processes to extract steroidal glycosides from Hoodia plants. Compositions comprising Hoodia extract have also been described, for example, by US2007196436 (Abrahamse et al.), US2002146468 (Rubin et al.). A number of documents also described extracting steroidal glycosides from plant material and some also include further purifying/concentrating the obtained extract. See for instance US2008044552 (Ismaili et al.), WO 08/028584, WO 05/116049, DE 102006024885, US2007104805 (Udell), U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,101 ((Raskin et al.), WO06/0051334, US20004082521, U.S. Pat. No. 7,008,648 (Corley et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,670,459 (Handa et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,490 (Fu et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,250 (Staba et al.), CN 1803827.
The present invention is based at least in part on the discovery that it is difficult to formulate food products comprising Hoodia extracts, because the extracts have a characteristic, thoroughly unpleasant smell, which also detrimentally impacts the taste of the extract. In the food industry, a flavor is defined as the combination of smelt and taste. Accordingly, there is a need for Hoodia plant extracts of improved flavor.